Today's Experiment… Failed

If I had realized that Philcon was going to suck so much, I probably wouldn’t have gone. And if I had realized when I first agreed to go this year that the Wii launch was on the same weekend, I probably wouldn’t have gone. But as it stood, I ended up in Philadelphia, in unfamiliar territory, trying my best to buy a Nintendo Wii.

I didn’t want to risk being shot/mugged, and didn’t particularly want to camp out anywhere, especially when there was a convention going on. So I set out to find places that would likely have them… but as I found out today, my assumptions had already doomed me. 6 stores up and down the east coast, and not a Wii to be found.

On Saturday, I ended up being drafted for an errand for my family. The store my brother wanted to go to was in a shopping district, so I had my target area. Armed with some data from Wii Seeker, and my bro giving directions from the passenger’s seat, I thought I would get some good data. It turns out the directions were a bit faulty, and we ended up in New Jersey, and stuck behind a parade. While stuck, I received a call from a friend back home who was planning to go to a midnight release at an out of the way Wal-Mart. (Still gotta find out if he managed to get one or not.)

Finally we were able to u-turn, and a $3 leaving NJ fee later, we ended up in the right area. First stop was Best Buy. The afternoon before launch and no campers, that was a good sign. After giving recommendations to a woman for non-violent video games (“I don’t care about shooting, I just don’t want any raping” said the woman finally), I asked the employee about the Wii launch, and he explained that it won’t be like the PS3 launch at all (there were typed signs on the door saying “SORRY PS3 SOLD OUT”) and that while they’re not getting a lot, they’re not expecting a big line. He said if I was there before the store opened, I should be fine. On the way out, I checked their hours… don’t open until 11 on Sundays. “Nice, I can get an average amount of sleep and still get here an hour ahead of time.”

Next stop was the Wal-mart. They also had a PS3 sold out sign on the doors, and I had to fight my way through three charities outside to get in. A quick stop in the games aisle (no Heroscape expansions, blast) and I headed to electronics. Getting someone’s help was difficult, but the employee made it clear that I would have a very tough time getting a Wii. Scratch that one off the list.

There was supposedly a Target nearby, but I couldn’t find it by the docks of Philadelphia. Once leaving the city the next day I spotted it from the highway, but I have the feeling it wouldn’t have mattered.
I returned to the hotel with a plan mapped out. I checked my email, and found an update that said Amazon was out of the Wii core system but was selling a bundle with Madden ’07, Rayman, and Texas Hold ‘Em. I really didn’t want Madden, nor was I keen to spend 500+ on it, so I passed but filed it away as a last resort. I spend the night gaming and drinking, suffering a particularly brutal string of Werewolf matches where a guy sat down and decided that he wanted to kill me for no reason every single game and didn’t care if he died. (On the third game, he was dealt the Seer, and I was dealt a Werewolf card… no way to win that!) I stayed up drinking and talking until 3, then stumbled off to crash, setting my alarm for 9. Two hours should be plenty of time, right?

Apparently not. I rolled out of bed a little late, and arrived at 10:15… still 45 minutes before open. Except that… as I pull up, I notice people going in and out of the store. I charge into the store, find the section, and find two other confused guys my age looking for Wiis. I flag down an employee who says “We sold out of those half an hour ago.” He then ran off. Another employee said to me “Yeah, we sold out right after opening.” I said, “But your sign says you don’t open for another 45 minutes!” The guy shook his head sympathetically. “We opened early today, but for some reason, only advertised that fact on our website. I thought that was stupid.” Dejected, I muttered agreement, and left…

I returned to the hotel to gather my things. I roused my trusty manservant Justin to drive me back to home, warning him that I wanted to stop along the way whenever a possibility showed itself.

I-95 south had a number of options along the way for major cities, but I guessed my best bet would be more out of the way stores. We skipped Wilmington, but headed to a city just south and found a Toys R Us. They weren’t high on my list of possibilities because they did have pre-ordering, but hey, I was there. My hopes got up when I saw boxes next to the display… then realized they were empty display boxes. And of course, approaching the counter, was another cheaply and quickly made “SORRY WE ARE SOLD OUT OF WII” sign. Hopes: dashed. It was a packed TRU too, evidently they were having a big sale. That must have been fun for the employees. It would have been nice to have bought it in Delaware without sales tax, but it was not to be.

Next stop was White Marsh, north of Baltimore. This didn’t seem likely, but it was an easy exit from where we were going. The shopping center had both a Best Buy and Target, which I had hoped meant better chance of getting one. Again, though, both had sold out right after opening. Best Buy had 50+, Target had around 40. We stopped for a quick bite in the Target food bag and watched 6 employees manage to not do anything and get repeatedly yelled at by managers. Good stuff.

Soon I was home, and hoped in my own car to head to my last stop of the day: Columbia. Columbia, I had confirmed, was receiving 120 units, more than any other listing I saw. I could have called down there to save myself a trip, but I couldn’t help but think that I wanted to get there as soon as possible.

A familar sight greated me: an empy spot in the locked glass cage. I asked the two people chatting in the electronics booth, and they said they sold out half an hour after opening. I asked if they, indeed, had gotten 120. They said they had, and the line when they opened consisted of 160 people. I never had a chance.

I returned home with “We Are the Champions” running through my head- I had wanted to call this post “Wii Are the Champions” if I had managed to buy one- but it only served to depress me.

And of course, when I got home, I found that the $500 Wii bundle on Amazon was sold out. Now my only options are eBay, waiting, or getting lucky. Of course, I am hoping for the third option. Hey, it happened with my PS2…

Any of you manage to get lucky and get a PS3 or Wii this weekend? If so, I’m totally jealous.